Teens Accused of Murdering Grandparents, Throwing House Party with Bodies Still Inside

Prosecutors say that a pair of Georgia teenagers accused of murdering one of the suspect’s grandparents threw a drug-fueled house party as the bodies decomposed in an upstairs room, unbeknownst to the partygoers.

Police charge that Cassandra Bjorge, 16, and boyfriend Johnny Rider, 19, murdered Wendy and Randall Bjorge and then sealed them into a room in the elderly couple’s Lawrenceville, Georgia, home, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Investigators say that the suspects murdered Bjorge’s grandparents by beating them and slitting their throats. The elderly couple was attacked, bound with duct tape, beaten with a tire iron, a bat, and a hammer. They were then stabbed and finally, their throats slit. To contain the smell of the decomposing bodies, the suspects used caulking to seal window cracks and doors, prosecutors said.

“Johnny began to attack the grandmother,” Detective Dave Brucz said in court. “Bjorge then said she had a surge of energy. She then dragged her grandmother into her grandfather’s bedroom. She was duct taped.”

During the week after the murders, the two also allegedly threw house parties in the grandparents’ home. Alcohol flowed freely, and marijuana was passed, prosecutors said. But none of the party guests had any idea that Bjorge’s grandparents lie decomposing just above them.

Police also say that the suspects had a “hit list” of people they planned to kill later. Members of Rider’s own family were on the list.

Once police finally became involved after the murders, the suspects engaged in a standoff with officers that ended only when the pair tried to kill themselves. The attempt failed, and authorities took both into custody.

The suspects are also charged with the aggravated assault of Rider’s sister. Police allege that during the confrontation, Rider pepper-sprayed his sister, then told Bjorge to get a bat. Once the bat was in hand, he allegedly began beating his sister. The victim escaped the scene, and Bjorge and Rider fled.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.